Resolutions: Planning To Keep

Yesterday I mentioned that resolutions are often not kept. Resolutions are forgotten or fail because we don't plan for them to succeed or we make them to vague to start. We can't simply resolve to live healthier lives or to succeed in our careers. If we want success then we need to create an action plan with achievable goals. Our action plan has to be more than get a promotion at work and should be comprised of real steps we can take towards that resolution. Real steps might be working later, taking on a new project, or asking for advice from a senior employee. These are steps we can realistically take to achieve our resolution of succeeding further in our career. The same is true for other resolutions like living healthier or learning a new skill. The first step to success is creating an action plan.

Nehemiah, a governor of Persian Judea, had a resolution to rebuild Jerusalem after it was destroyed by enemies. Nehemiah did not live in Jerusalem, but when he heard about the devastation, he was resolved to fix it. Nehemiah started the path to success by creating an action plan. The book of Nehemiah tells us that Nehemiah started his action plan by praying to God. When he knew he had God's blessing, he created a plan to succeed. He prayed continuously throughout the execution of his plan and spent time thinking about the logistics of what needed to happen in order for him to be successful. A certain amount of his plan was impossible in the sense that he would be unable to do it alone and needed God's blessing to influence the hearts of men. Nehemiah proved that it is ok to have an action plan with steps that we can't complete on our own, but that we need to have steps we can do too. The purpose of an action plan is to take real steps to achieve our goals and allow God to do what we can't. 

Financial Goal Planning Page

Some of my resolutions this year are financial goals that I would like to achieve in 2017. I am utilizing a bullet journal notebook in order to document and plan for the success of these goals. This notebook is my action plan. In it I can write down steps I need to take to succeed, document my progress, and know where I can't go any further on my own and where I need to faithfully turn it over to God. These financial goals are ongoing for 2017 and if I don't complete each step then I am not likely to have the success at the end of the year, but there is also room for miracles. I know there will be times when success will seem impossible, but I also know in those times God will provide for me when there didn't seem to be a way. I know this because God always provides for His children. 

Weekly Layout

Another resolution is just to be able to get more done and to have success in other areas of my life. Again, I am using that notebook to schedule in tasks and realistic steps I can take throughout the year to be more successful. I know that planning is not for everyone, but if you want to see success in your resolutions then I encourage you to create an action plan, document your success, and commit the rest to God. 

If you would like to see more of my bullet journal, or are interested in how I use it to complete resolutions, leave a comment below and I will include it in future posts.